ENG HW
Running head: ANALYSIS OF LITERARY WORK 0
Analysis of Literary Work
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Analysis of Literary Work
Introduction
William Faulkner authored Light in August in 1932, giving an account of Joe Christmas’s life and death (Faulkner, 1990). The novel can be categorized in the Southern gothic literary genre, set in the interwar period. It focuses on Lena Grove and Joe Christmas, in a fictional county, Yoknapatawpha County in Mississippi, for different reasons. Lena was a pregnant woman, who moved to the county in search of the father of her baby Lucas Burch. Burch and Christmas work for a woman, Joanna Burden, who later is murdered. Burch turns in Christmas for killing Burden. In the end of the novel, Christian is shot and castrated for escaping prison, Burch does not get any reward for telling on Christmas, and Lena is assisted by Byron Bunch to deliver (Faulkner, 1990). Faulkner employs various themes and styles in his novel. This paper evaluates the themes, styles, and the significant aspects of the novel that can be changed, and adaptation.
Themes
Race
In this novel, Faulkner examines the theme of race in the South as it was in the interwar period. Christmas is portrayed as an African American in the novel, although Faulkner fails to confirm Christmas’ race at the end of the book. Despite being a light skin individual, the people view Christmas as a foreigner, which leads him to believe that he as an African American ancestry. His belief is further fueled by the fact that the other children in the orphanage where he grew up often called him “nigger” (Faulkner, 1990).
Faulkner also presents Christmas an individual who is always on the road because he is haunted by his two identities, being white and black. Christian is a perfect example of the society’s view of the black people as a threat and can only be associated to violence. He is charged with various violent acts, one of them being the murder of Burden, whereby Burch claimed that Christmas was the murderer because he was black.
Gender
In Light in August, women are portrayed as submissive beings, powerless, and living under the authority of their husbands. Additionally the women are shown as caring people, in comparison to the men. However, some of the women in the novel leave above these set stereotypes. For example, Joanna Burden is does not respect the institution of marriage, does not leave under the authority of any man, has an affair with Christmas, and has sexual encounters with several black men (Faulkner, 1990). Her character represents a sexual freedom represents something uncommon with the women at Yoknapatawpha. Lena is also another character that overcomes the belief that women have to be cared for by men as she travels alone even though she is pregnant. The theme is further shown in Christmas character, where men are not capable of love, as treats them with disgust and violence.
Alienation
Faulkner accounts the lives of several protagonists in the novel, who are seen as misfits by the entire society. As the main characters in the novel, Lena and Christmas, are orphans social outcasts in different ways. Lena is looked down upon for being pregnant and with no husband, while Christmas is an outcast due to his violent deeds (Faulkner, 1990). The theme of alienation is further portrayed in the character of Reverend Hightower and Burden, whose behavior causes attempts by the society to force the two to leave town.
Religion
The Calvinistic beliefs highlighted by Faulkner in this novel portray religion as a way for stifling personality, and eliminating joy. The people are too focused on maintaining their religious faith, to the extent that they even defrock Reverand Hightower because his wife was adulterous, and he employed a pretentious preaching style (Faulkner, 1990). On the other hand, religion is also misused in this society, where Mr. Hines uses it as an excuse to push people to white supremacy.
Class
Light in August represents a poor society, whereby Faulkner’s focus was in the white Southerners who are power, hailing from lower and upper classes. The economy of the south was significantly affected by the war leaving the people struggling. The characters in Faulkner’s novel are of the lower class, which brings them together as they struggle to overcome the poverty. Exempted from the lower class are Reverend Hightower and Burden, who are seemingly rich.
Styles
Stream-of-Consciousness
The style is common in Flaunker’s writings, whereby he gives the audience a direct access to all information that is in the mind of his characters. Particularly in Light in August, he uses the style detailing the past life of Hightower. Regardless of the complexity of these events, Faulkner is keen to ensure that the collection of events in Hightower’s mind are put together so that his life can be viewed in a single clear moment.
Straightforward Narration
The style is employed in the chapters that describe the life of Lena Grove. A simple prose form of narration is utilized to match this character’s personality, whereby she is a simple individual driven by the single need to find her baby’s father. (Faulkner, 1990) Continuous use of dialect is visible in these chapters, whereby Faulkner intentionally uses the style to capture the nature of the character.
Compound words, Repetition, and Made-up Words in Long Sentences
Faulkner employs repetition is his writing to emphasize on certain aspect of novel. He uses repetition to show the seriousness with which some facts should be taken due to their importance in the novel. An example of this style is in the part where he states “bleak walls and bleak windows” (Faulkner, 1990) The application of made-up and compound words in Light in August is important in that it enables the audience to remember issues that are being described in the minds of some of the characters such as Joe Christmas. Examples of the compound and made-up words include “cinderstrewnpacked” and “adjacenting” respectively (Faulkner, 1990). In some sections, Faulkner writes extremely long sentences, making up an entire paragraph, and sometimes characterized as ungrammatical.
Changes to a Significant Aspect
Style
The style employed in light in August is one of the significant aspects that I would consider changing. The use of long sentences, made-up words, and ungrammatical sentences makes the novel difficult to read and very complicated (Faulkner, 1990). Although this style is creative, it discourages a large number of readers from reading the entire text due to the difficulties in understanding some of these areas. Therefore, I would consider using a simpler form of prose writing, and dialogues, which capture the attention of the audience.
Although the use of steam-of-consciousness in the novel sets it apart from other literary works, it is also quite complex, mixing up the thoughts of the characters in an attempt to recollect them into a single meaning of life. I would not entirely eliminate it from the writing, but I would back it up with the audience is able to maintain the flow of the story.
Adaptation
Adaptation of a literary work refers to the use of the work, in this a novel, as a basis for another genre or medium. Adaptation can be the alteration of the novel or poems into other genres such as:
Film
Stage play
Video game
Faulkner’s novel, Light in August is quite interesting, especially because it based on the Southern side in the town where he lived, although a fictitious county is created. This nature of the novel makes it suitable for adapting into a film, guided by the various chapters of the novel. Therefore, I would consider adapting this novel for a film with the same name, providing a visual genre of Faulkner’s story.
A look at this film indicates that it qualifies for a film adaptation because it meet the rules of a successful adaptation. One of the rules is that novel has story concepts that are clearly defines. The story is in Light in August has a defined story revolving around the life of the main characters, among them being Christmas and Lena. Another rule is that there have to be a protagonist or hero with a clear objective he or she wants to achieve. Faulkner’s literary work includes protagonist Christmas, Lena, Burden, and Hightower, all who seems to have different issues that they struggle with as they aim to meet their goals.
The adaptation of Light in August for film requires a little alterations so that it can capture the attention of the audience. The idea is to portray different emotions of the characters so that it can keep the audience glued to the screen. Therefore, some dramatization of the different scenes would have to be included so that the emotions can felt. For example, in Lena’s journey where she attempts to find the father of her baby, different obstacles created by the people she meets can be dramatized to give a clear image of what she has to go through.
Additionally, the adaption to film could provide an opportunity to scrutinize the various characters in the play, without having to go through the difficulties of understanding the style used by Faulkner in his movie. The use of ungrammatical sentences that make it a little difficult to understand the story in the novel would be eliminated, allowing the viewers to get the entire flow of the story.
How and Why the Adaptation Matters
The adaptation of this novel matters mostly to the readers, who would like to see a visual presentation of the events detailed in the novel. Based on the narrations in each of the chapters, it is clear that there is a lot of drama, which can be best presented through a film. Individuals without enough time to read can benefit largely as they can watch the film instead.
In addition, the adaptation of this novel is very important because it can be used to shed light on various issues that affect the society. Racism is one of the issues that has been highlighted by Faulkner, whereby the African Americans as viewed based on the existing stereotypes. For example, Christmas’ violent character is associated with the fact that he has an African American Ancestry. This forms a good basis for using this film in a classroom set up to teach the students on this issues. It may be difficult to have students in a social science to read the entire book to get the issues of racism post war, but the film can be watched in a single session.
Moreover, the adaptation also matters because it attracts a greater audience, including individuals that cannot read even though they understand English. The film is a great way to reach out to such people as they will have the knowledge if what this literary work of Faulkner without having to read the novel. Individuals without the understanding of the film can also watch it with subtitles emended to it in a foreign language that the viewer understands. Faulkner’s work is very important as it illustrates an important part of the history of America, especially after the war, which deserves to be in films to reach out to more people.
Conclusion
Light in August is a very interesting novel, with major characters being Lena and Christmas that are faced by various problems in the fictitious county of Yoknapatawpha in Mississippi. This paper successfully analyses the themes and styles used in the novel, as well as the significant aspect that can be changed. The adaptation of the novel to film is also suggested.
References
Faulkner, W. (1990). Light in August : the corrected text. New York: Vintage Books.
